Bringing Kate Up To Date
by reaper with no name
Summary: Abby visits Kate's grave and brings her up to speed on what's happened since her death. In the process, she also comes to an important realization about her relationship with a certain "geek". McAbby, slight Tiva.
1. Chapter 1

It had been a long time since she had been here. In fact, she hadn't been here since the funeral. Work and her personal life had gotten in the way (to speak nothing of the sheer willpower required for her to bring herself to come). It had been a long time, and she had gotten much better at dealing with this. But as one Abigail Sciuto stood at the grave of Caitlin Todd, she couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Well, you haven't changed much," Kate said, referring to the black dress Abby was wearing and the black umbrella she was carrying. Abby always dressed this way on these sorts of occasions.

Abby wiped away a tear that had started to form and did her best to put on a smile. "I'll bet you haven't, either."

"Nope. Though I have had a lot of time for introspection," Kate replied.

"Sounds boring. How do you manage?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Maybe to you, but I find it quite relaxing. And it's not like I have anything better to do except watch the grass grow. Speaking of which, you would not believe how fast it grows. I swear, they have to come out here and mow it at least twice a week! But enough about me. How are the others?"

"Well, everyone was really bummed out at first. Well, except Gibbs. Not that he's doesn't care or anything, because he does. It's just that he's…You know, Gibbs."

Kate laughed. "Trust me, Abby. He was 'bummed out' too." She used her fingers to emphasize the "bummed out" part. "He's just better at hiding it than the rest of us."

"Yeah, well, he was also pissed. He wanted Ari dead. Well, not that he didn't already want Ari dead, because he did, but-"

Kate cut her off. "Abby, I get the idea."

"Hmph. You're pretty impatient for a dead person," Abby pouted.

Kate smiled. "I may have all the time in the world Abby, but you don't. I imagine it was hard enough finding the time to see me as it is, knowing how busy Gibbs keeps you."

"Yeah. So, anyway, you probably already knew this, but Ari was the bastard who shot you. Gibbs wanted him dead, big time. In the end, Ziva was the one who took him down."

Kate's brow furrowed in confusion. "Who?"

Abby realized she'd gone a little too fast and became a little embarrassed. "Oh, sorry. Ziva's from Mossad. After Gibbs made it clear that he wasn't going to stop until Ari was in the ground, Ziva came here and tried to convince Gibbs that Ari wouldn't do something like that because he was actually a spy for Mossad who was infiltrating Hamas. Gibbs wouldn't buy it, of course. He convinced Ziva to help him set a trap for Ari. He took the bait, and after admitting that he really was working for Hamas and wanted to kill Gibbs so that it looked like a suicide. That's why he killed you, too, by the way. But when she heard all that, Ziva popped up and shot Ari dead." She perked up a bit at the last part.

"That must have been hard for her…" Kate mused. "Killing a man she thought was her ally."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it," Abby interjected. "He was her half-brother."

Abby had never heard of a dead person being surprised, but there it was. "Wow," Kate uttered. "And she still did it? I think I like her already."

Abby's expression took on one of guilt. "Well…You might not after I tell you that she kind of took your place after that. She's been staying here since then as a liaison. She even sits at your old desk now…Sorry…"

Abby had avoided making eye contact during that admission. The grass was much easier to look at. But she knew she had to look back eventually, and when she did she was surprised to see a knowing smile on Kate's face, as if she was privy to some secret that Abby was not.

"Abby, you say that as if I'd mind."

"You don't?"

"Of course not, Abby. Come on. I'm dead. I can't expect the world to stop on my account. Life goes on. I want you guys to be happy. If this 'Ziva' is half as good a person as you say she is, then I'm glad she's with you all. It's not like I'd want you guys moping over me day in and day out. What kind of boring life would that be?"

This cheered Abby up. "Yeah, you're right, Kate. Well, she's no you, but Ziva does bring something to the team. She really knows how to kick ass." She made a karate chop motion to demonstrate. "Plus, she's the only woman I've ever met who could intimidate Tony."

Kate's jaw dropped. "You're kidding me."

Abby's proud, cheerful smile was proof of her honesty. "Nope!"

"DiNozzo. Intimidated. By a woman?" Kate looked as if she were struggling to suppress laughter.

"Yep!" Abby beamed. The two of them simultaneously lost the battle to control themselves and burst out laughing.


	2. Chapter 2

When the two finally regained their composure a few minutes later, Kate was eager to hear more.

"Well, you know how Tony loves to turn everything a woman says into innuendo?" Abby asked.

"Yes. That's usually the point right before when I get angry and berate or threaten him in some way," Kate grumbled, obviously remembering those annoying and yet often entertaining exchanges.

"Well, Ziva goes with it. She puts him on the spot and makes HIM uncomfortable!" Abby smiled from all the memories.

Kate seemed very satisfied by this knowledge. "Hoisted by his own perverted petard. How fitting."

"Yeah, until Tony starts prying into her personal life. It's not as bad as he used to do to you, but it's bad enough to make her really annoyed."

"Figures. Some things never change."

"Yeah, but other things do. Like when Tony fell in love."

"Love? Tony? Now you are pulling my leg. I can tell." There was no surprise there. Only genuine disbelief.

"Nope."

"Tony could NEVER fall in love. It's not in his genes. He is just INCAPABLE of it."

But Abby was not to be deterred. "It happened."

"There's just no way."

Abby stared at Kate with the most serious expression she could muster under the circumstances. "These eyes don't lie," she said, pointing at them for emphasis.

Kate finally seemed to give in. "Fine, I believe you. But how on God's green earth could that have happened?"

"It started with this undercover assignment he was given by the Director. Not the one you know. He moved to some other shadowy government agency right around when Ziva joined. Jenny Shepard took over. I think she and Gibbs had some sort of thing back in the day. But anyway, she was obsessed with this Arms Dealer."

"La Grenouille," Kate finished.

"Yeah. How'd you know? You're not channeling Gibbs' power, are you?" Abby said, worried.

Kate shook her head. "No, Abby. I met her once. She was a good friend of my boss in the Secret Service."

"Ok, then," Abby continued. "She wanted to get close to La Grenouille, so she gave Tony this undercover assignment to seduce his daughter."

"Figures that Tony would end up with an assignment like that," Kate remarked dryly.

"Yeah, but what happened was, he eventually fell in love with her! Like, for real! It was so weird. And it really hurt him when they had to break it off."

"You mean, when they got La Grenouille?"

"No, no, when Tony's cover got blown! The CIA was supporting La Grenouille. He knew about Tony's assignment even before he met him."

"Can't say it surprises me. The CIA is just the kind of organization that would support the top arms dealer just so they could control the arms business," Kate said. "So what happened to Tony and the girl?"

"He admitted everything to her. And then she asked if any of it was real, and…"

"He lied."

Abby stared at Kate closely. "Are you SURE you're not channeling Gibbs' power?"

"It's a classic Tony move. He's always been afraid of commitment. But when it comes down to it, he always does what he thinks is best," Kate sighed. "If I was in his situation, I would have done the same thing."

"Yeah. I guess so…" Abby trailed off. She honestly wasn't sure what she would have done.

Fortunately, Kate seemed to ignore the fact that she was lying and continued. "So, did you get him?"

"Who?"

"La Grenouille."

"Well…Sort of. Someone killed him." This was not a subject she wanted to explore any further.

Sensing her discomfort, Kate put the pieces together. "Don't tell me the Director did it."

"I don't know. She could have done it, and she was definitely obsessed enough to do it, but now we'll never know, because SHE died in some kind of shootout not long after. And Gibbs refuses to tell me anything about either!"

"I take it he took her death pretty hard?" Kate asked.

"Yeah. He still won't talk to me about it."

"Give him some time. He'll open up about it eventually, " Kate said comfortingly.

"Yeah, but…I liked her, Kate. And I like you too. I miss you both." The tears were threatening to come forth again. She had to fight to keep them at bay.

"Abby, I'm right here. I've always been with you. And so has she. Just because you can't see something doesn't mean it isn't there. You should know that. Your mass-spec-whatever just isn't high-tech enough to pick us up, okay?"

Abby couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Hey, for your information, his name is Major Mass Spec!" she asserted indignantly.

Kate's warm smile was infectious. "That's my girl. Now, tell me about something else. Something GOOD," Kate corrected.

"Hmmm…Well, there was one thing I forgot to mention about Tony and Ziva. I think they might have a thing for each other."

"Really? A woman having a thing for Tony?"

"Yeah, it's got me stumped too. But I have a sixth sense for these kinds of things. It was really cute how Ziva was so worried about Tony back during his undercover thing, because she thought he was seeing a doctor about that plague thing he had that one time."

"I remember," Kate stated.

"Oh! And get this: Gibbs has a father," Abby revealed, as if it was a mind-blowing secret.

"Well, yes, he is human, you know."

"Some days I'm not so sure," Abby contemplated. "It's like he has this psychic power that lets him know whenever I have something for him. It's kind of creepy. But cool, though. Anyway, he grew up in this small, average town in the Midwest. His dad is pretty cool, too. Almost like a really polite Tony that flatters you instead of harasses you."

"I'm sure it was all shocking for you to discover," Kate rolled her eyes. "How's Ducky?"

"Oh, he's doing well. Pretty much the same as always. He got a new assistant, though. Gerald got freaked out and quit after Ari came back. Can't say I blame him."

"Does this 'new assistant' have a name?" Kate asked.

"Yes, he does," Abby stated matter-of-factly. "His name is Jimmy Palmer. Nice guy, but really insecure. Not in the 'McGee insecure in a really cute way' way, but in the 'sort of annoying but you almost pity him' way. I think he has a crush on me or something, because he gets really awkward whenever he's around me and smiles at me way too much."

Seeing an opportunity to change the subject, Kate took it. "Speaking of McGee, how are things going with him?"

"If you mean 'how is he doing?', then fine. But if you're implying what I think you're implying, then you can just forget getting an answer to that one." Abby was not ready to talk about that with Kate (or anyone, for that matter), no matter how much she wanted to.

"So, I take it that means 'same as before'?" Kate queried.

Abby sighed. There was no getting out of this one. "No, nothing's changed."


	3. Chapter 3

"Sounds like you still haven't gotten over him," Kate noted.

"I know! It sucks!"

"Has he moved on yet?"

"Well…"Abby started. "I thought he did. And I kept getting jealous whenever he'd get a new girlfriend."

Kate stared at her.

"Ok, ok, so I still do. And I might also get jealous of girls that I think he might be interested in. I was actually kind of jealous with Ziva for a while when she showed up because I thought-"

"Abby. Don't try to change the subject."

"All right, fine. But he always looks hurt every time I reject or berate him. And then there was that time with that wacko fan of his…"

"Fan? What are you talking about, Abby?" Kate asked, confused.

"Well, you remember how Tim liked to write in his spare time?" Abby asked. Kate nodded. "Well, Mr Thom E. Gemcity, as he calls himself, is now a best-selling author. But the thing is, we're all characters in his book."

"What?"

"Yeah. Like, Timmy's character is named McGregor, I'm Amy, Ziva is Lisa, Gibbs is Tibbs, and you're Karyn Tomm. Well, except your character died in the middle of the first book," Abby explained.

"Gee. I wonder why," Kate pretended to wonder, annoyed.

"Yeah, pretty much all of us except Gibbs and Ducky had that reaction. He described my room almost perfectly!"

"So, what's this about a fan?"

"Well, see, when McGee was writing the sequel, a couple of bodies turned up. The victims looked just like characters from McGee's book, and the crime scenes looked just like settings from it. But the book wasn't even done yet, so we couldn't figure out how the killer knew all this."

"Abby, the short version, please. I can hear the details later. Right now, I want to make sure I get the gist of it before Gibbs calls you away. The last thing I need is a cliffhanger to keep me company until the next time you visit."

"Sorry. Well, long story short, it was this crazy fan of McGee's who was reading his rough drafts and killing anyone he thought might kill McGee's character. He thought it was real. He came to me and put a gun to my head, calling me Amy."

"So what happened?"

"Everybody showed up just in time, and Tim convinced the guy that he didn't want to kill me, because the ending to his book was going to be Amy and McGregor getting married."

"How sweet of him," Kate remarked.

"Well, it wasn't the first time some psycho tried to kill me, I mean, it's like the universe wants me to be some kind of damsel in distress. There was that stalker ex of mine, and the robot car that tried to suffocate me, and that so-called 'assistant' of mine, and-"

"Abby," Kate told her sternly.

"Well, I kind of freaked out."

"What kind of freak-out are we talking about here?" Kate probed. "The kind that you forget about the next day, the kind that requires a long talk and apology, or what?"

"The kind where you say something you don't really mean and can never take back. I mean, you know how I am with that kind of serious stuff. I'm just not ready for the whole 'get married and have kids' thing."

"So what happened?"

"I didn't even thank him for saving my life. I just went right up to him, in front of everyone, and said 'we need to talk. Amy and McGregor can't get together in the end; they're all wrong for each other.'"

Kate winced. Abby couldn't help but follow suit.

"And did you talk?" Kate asked.

Abby squeezed her eyes shut and squeaked out a "…No…"

She cracked open one eye to spot Kate shaking her head sadly. "Abby…"

"I know, I know! He practically admitted that he loved me, and I just rejected him right off! I'm so stupid!"

"Abby, you're not stupid, you just overreacted. Everyone does it. Even me."

"But that's not the end, either! There was also that time that we were trying to find a security leak, and Gibbs had this plan where I'd pretend to be the mole, so we could flush out the real one. And Timmy was with me in interrogation. He knew I couldn't be a traitor, but he didn't know I was part of the plan, so he was trying to get me to tell him what I'd been working on so secretly all day, because that made things look bad, and-"

Abby had begun pacing as she spoke, and when she turned back towards Kate, she noticed that Kate was covering her ears. "Hey!"

Kate laughed and let her arms fall to her sides. "I was listening, Abby, just get to the point."

Scowling, Abby continued. "Well, when I finally gave in and told him about the plan, he…Kissed me. On the cheek, not the lips. But still…I had the perfect time to straighten all of this out, and I missed it! I just keep fucking this up!"

She noticed she had started pacing again, and forced herself to stand still as she looked back to her friend. "What am I supposed to do, Kate? I love him, but there's no way it could work. He wants one of those long-term, committed relationships, and I just want one of those casual 'live for the here and now' relationships."

"Abby, if he really loves you, then he won't care what kind of relationship you have," Kate told her.

"But how do I…?"

"How do you 'what', Abby?" Kate's words became a little more forceful. "There's not really much to it. You love him. He loves you. You both want a relationship. So start one. It's not complicated."

"But it is!"

"Ok, then. What is complicated about it?" Kate asked, crossing her arms.

"Well…I…Uh…" For perhaps the first time in her life, Abigail Sciuto was speechless. She didn't have a clue just what was so difficult about Kate's solution. "So…I just…Go up to him and say 'Hey, McGee, I wasn't kidding that week when I went without Caf-Pow and said I love you?'"

Kate nodded. "That's it. Well, I probably wouldn't use those exact words, but yes."

"Huh…That seems so…Easy. Why didn't I think of it?"

Kate shrugged.

"But what if he doesn't want me anymore? What if he really wants a super-serious relationship?"

Kate sighed. "Abby, ask yourself this: 'What if you don't do this?' Do you really want to live like this forever?"

Abby tilted her head a little to the side. "Hmmm…Well, I'm sure I don't want to spend the rest of my life like this. But it's not like I'm going to live forever, anyway, because someday I'm going to grow old and die like everybody else, so I guess…I guess I'd better not waste the time I do have, because life is short and I only get one of them."

And the light bulb came on. Suddenly, her eyes were opened, as if a veil that had been in front of her face for so long had finally been removed.

"Kate! You're right!"

Kate smiled. "Of course I am. The dead are always wiser than the living, for some strange reason. Now what are you waiting for? Get going! But be sure to visit! I'll want to hear about that robot car."

Abby was already halfway to her car. She stopped for just a moment to bid her friend goodbye. "I will! And thanks again, Kate!"

Abby began running again. Unfortunately, she did so without watching where she was going. As a result, she collided with one Timothy McGee.

"Ow…" he groaned as the two of them climbed to their feet.

"Oops. Sorry, Timmy," Abby giggled. Then she stopped. "Wait. What are you doing here?"

McGee held up the remnants of the now-ruined flowers that he had been carrying. "I was going to visit Kate's grave." He noticed Abby's outfit. "…I take it you're here to do the same."

"Close, McGee, but not quite! I just finished visiting Kate. We had a lot to talk about."

"Really? Like what?"

"I'll tell you all about it in the car. We'll take yours. Now let's go," Abby commanded as she took McGee's hand and led him towards the car she recognized as his. "Kate can wait a little longer. Plus, she doesn't like ruined flowers anyway."

"What? Where are you taking-Mmph!"

Abby silenced him by wrapping her arms around him and planting a kiss firmly on his lips. "You'll see. Now, unless there are any objections…"

"No, ma'am. Lead the way."

McGee had no idea what had brought on this change in Abby, but he sure wasn't going to complain. And neither was Abby. It had been even easier than she had thought it would be. As the two drove out of the cemetery, a glowing figure sitting cross-legged on a familiar gravestone smiled at them, pleased with her work.


End file.
